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Russell Martin was playing to Rangers gallery as Brendan Rodgers works Celtic notice

Russell Martin was playing to Rangers gallery as Brendan Rodgers works Celtic notice

Daily Record16 hours ago
The Record Sport team debate all the big issues after the opening weekend of the new Scottish Premiership season
Was Russell Martin right to rip into his Rangers squad at Fir Park?
KEITH JACKSON: Let's be honest, it all felt a bit manufactured, almost as if Martin was playing to the gallery. He's going to have to get his system and selections right before the Rangers fans can really get behind him.

SCOTT MCDERMOTT: Yes. Because at the very least it will buy him a bit more time with the Ibrox punters who are fed up with managers making excuses for this group of players. Whether it will make a blind bit of difference remains to be seen.

SCOTT BURNS: Definitely. You have to set standards from the off and Rangers were lucky to even get a point at Motherwell. Results and performances like these have happened too often at Rangers and have been major factors in why they have trailed Celtic.

MICHAEL GANNON: He was entitled to slap down an early marker and he wasn't wrong on a lot of points. It was still a gamble though, especially when the midfield set up looked so suspect.
Should Gers fans expect their side to get past Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League qualifier?
KEITH JACKSON: They can't be sure what to expect from this side but they do have every right to think a place in the next round is absolutely achievable. Failure to get there will not go down well.
SCOTT MCDERMOTT: They should expect it but that's not to say it will happen. Plzen are a side Rangers should be beating, which would give themselves a real crack at the Champions League. But the display at Fir Park doesn't bode well for Tuesday night.

SCOTT BURNS: If Rangers don't progress it would be a major blow. I was out with Hearts against Viktoria Plzen last season and Hearts should have beat them. If they don't progress then major question marks need to be asked.
MICHAEL GANNON: It's too early to expect anything from Rangers right now. Plzen have been written off but they have tested plenty of decent teams in recent year and are capable of doing damage.
Is it now inevitable Brendan Rodgers will leave Celtic at the end of the season?
KEITH JACKSON: That all depends on what happens between now and the end of the transfer window. Rodgers has effectively put a gun to the head of Dermot Desmond and the board. It's now all about the nature of their response.

SCOTT MCDERMOTT: Not inevitable but your gut reaction - after his comments last week about the board matching his ambition - certainly makes you think he's working his notice before leaving next summer. Which is what many of us expected to happen.
SCOTT BURNS: The ball is in the hands of the Celtic board. If they back him then there is a chance he will stay. If they don't then it looks like his second coming will soon be coming to an end. It certainly looks like it will be the latter unless the club significantly ups its transfer activity.

MICHAEL GANNON: There might actually be more chance of him staying now than before. Rodgers has told the board what it will take to convince him to stick around longer and it's now fully over to them.
Can Hibs and Dundee United keep their Euro dreams alive?
KEITH JACKSON: Hibs were unlucky not to get past Midtjylland last week but will have enough to take care of their Serbian opponents this time around. It looks like a much tougher assignment for United to get the better of Rapid Vienna. Unfortunately this feels like the end of the European road.
SCOTT MCDERMOTT: It would be brilliant if they could but both have really tough ties. Can Hibs recover after that late kick in the teeth against FC Midtjylland? And are United really good enough to beat Rapid Vienna? It's difficult to see either side going through.
SCOTT BURNS: It is going to be difficult because it is so early in the season and they are playing sides who are used to playing in Europe. These are games where our clubs need to start putting down markers and winning ties like this rather than putting out a plucky fight and bowing out. Hopefully, one if not both can progress.
MICHAEL GANNON: They both have pretty tough ties. It's hard to see them getting through but it is about time Scottish teams caused upsets in Europe rather than being on the end of them. The key is staying in the ties for the second legs.
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Hearts 2-0 Aberdeen: Player ratings, new signing debuts, power and pace, top of SPFL Premiership
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Hearts 2-0 Aberdeen: Player ratings, new signing debuts, power and pace, top of SPFL Premiership

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It's easy to forget just how good Dele Alli was – unfortunately other talented stars could soon follow his sad decline
It's easy to forget just how good Dele Alli was – unfortunately other talented stars could soon follow his sad decline

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It's easy to forget just how good Dele Alli was – unfortunately other talented stars could soon follow his sad decline

Alli is another name in a list of similar career trajectories in modern football DELE-CATE SITUATION It's easy to forget just how good Dele Alli was – unfortunately other talented stars could soon follow his sad decline Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) NEWS that Dele Alli's career as an elite footballer may be over comes as no great surprise but with genuine sadness. And ever since Dele revealed the full extent of his traumatic childhood, in an interview with Gary Neville, there should only ever be empathy and understanding about the way his career has nosedived. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Dele Alli has experienced a difficult career since breaking through with Tottenham Hotspur as a youngster in 2015 Credit: Getty 5 Alli was just a teenager when he took his first steps in the Premier League Credit: Getty - Contributor Yet Dele's career trajectory — five outstanding seasons, followed by a long descent — is not unusual and will become more commonplace. Because elite modern football is no country for either free spirits or troubled souls. Dele is adamant he wants to continue his career having been banished from the squad at Italian club Como after one Serie A appearance — a nine-minute cameo as a sub in March which ended in a red card. But at the age of 29 — and six years after the last of his 37 England caps — Dele is surely finished at the top level. An increasing number of players burn brightly for a short period of time before they either implode or suffer serious downturns. From Dele's generation of England players alone, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard, Ross Barkley, Jadon Sancho and Harry Winks were all regular internationals who, for various reasons, have struggled to last the course. The intensity of the modern game, with its demand for extreme athleticism and utter mental dedication, means that those like Harry Kane, who play at the top for ten or 15 years, are going to become the exception rather than the rule. Add in the increasingly congested fixture list for leading players — the nonsense of the Club World Cup only adding to it — and many will break down physically as well as psychologically. 5 Alli was red-carded almost immediately in his one Serie A appearance for Como Credit: Getty It is easy to forget quite how good a player Dele was. Not many players score 18 goals in a Premier League season from midfield, reach a World Cup semi-final and a Champions League final by the age of 23, win the PFA Young Player of the Year award as well as Match of the Day's Goal of the Season. Dele Alli hailed for opening up on mental health battles as Everton star joins Monday Night Football panel In that Neville interview, in 2023, Dele revealed he had been sexually abused as a six-year-old and was dealing drugs by the age of eight. He is estranged from both of his birth parents and was adopted by a school friend's family as a teenager and has more recently been in rehab to tackle addictions. During his early years at Tottenham, Dele was well looked-after by a supportive and tight-knit dressing room under the guidance of Mauricio Pochettino. Those Spurs team-mates were hugely fond of Dele — regarded as a likeable but wayward kid rather than a bad egg. They knew many of his issues and there were many positive influences on him, especially Eric Dier. Dele's career trajectory — five outstanding seasons, followed by a long descent — is not unusual and will become more commonplace. Elite modern football is no country for either free spirits or troubled souls. Yet since Pochettino's sacking in November 2019, Dele's career has been in a downward spiral from Jose Mourinho to Everton to Besiktas to Como — and a serious renaissance now seems highly unlikely. Other elite players who have crashed and burned may also have suffered extreme personal circumstances. Others are simply not built with the one-track mind now essential to a lasting career at the top. Up until the 1990s, it was perfectly possible for elite footballers to enjoy sex and drugs and rock-and-roll lifestyles and still enjoy sustained success. Now that levels of athleticism have increased, players' lifestyles are monitored so stringently by their clubs and their chances of a sly night out are wrecked by the advent of camera phones and social media, free-spirited players like Grealish will struggle. 5 Alli spent an ill-fated stint with Everton in an attempt to revive his Premier League career Credit: PA 5 Alli managed 37 senior international caps for England, but there is little hope of him adding to that tally now Credit: Getty Nothing can be done about this trend. The internet won't be uninvented and ultra-professionalism will never go into reverse. In an ideal world, every top footballer would have the mindset and stable background of Kane. In theory, they should all be able to live like monks for 15 years and enjoy their multi-million-pound rewards once they hang up their boots. Which is all well and good until you factor in the fact they are fallible human beings, often from tough backgrounds, who are subjected to huge temptations. Being a professional footballer in the 21st century is far more lucrative, but far less fun, than it was in the 20th. Addictions suffered by elite footballers are now less likely to be booze and recreational drugs but online gambling, gaming, porn as well as sleeping pills — secretive, lonely ways to alleviate pressures and problems. Nobody is playing violins for these young multi-millionaires. But, in its move towards extreme professionalism and 365-days-a-year seasons, football will lose more wonderful players like Dele.

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